Printer Problem: Any suggestions or advice?

[Miss*Bijou]

Maybe someone can suggest something..


I have a printer, which is over 1 yr old, so the warranty has already expired. I haven't used it much at all so it still works fine except for what I think is a print head clogged. It was working fine until I switched the ink cartridge (black) and then when I tried to print something the next day, it wouldn't print anything black. Colors still work fine though. Of course I tried numerous times to fix it with the automatic cleaning utility but it still wouldn't print anything black. I figured maybe it was a defective cartridge so I tried a new one - still not working.

I've looked around online and found instructions on how to unclog the print head but I'm not particularly comfortable opening up and poking around trying to figure out what's what. There are a lot of different parts and I don't want to mess it up even more.lol


Anyway it's been clogged for a couple of months and I'm sick of seeing there but not being able to use it, so I want to figure out what I should do. Any ideas who could fix it or should I just buy a new one, give this one away and let someone else fix it?

Who could fix it? I would prefer to fix this one instead of just buying a new printer and creating even more pollution. But I can walk over to best buy right now and buy a new printer, functioning and fully loaded on ink for $35 +tax (or find similar on CL) so it seems to make no sense for me to pay $50+ on fixing this one (especially if it does turn out to be just a matter of unclogging the print head!)!


Stupid printer. Argh. :doh:

 

[freebird]

Buy a bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol. Using a Qtip, clean the clogged print head with it.

 

[mercyshooter]

take it to crystal mall. there are experts there! Sometimes, update the printer firmware will solve the problem for you!

 

[threepeat]

take it to crystal mall. there are experts there! Sometimes, update the printer firmware will solve the problem for you!

Updating the firmware will clear a clogged print head????????????????????????????????????????? Uh... I dunno...

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Buy a bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol. Using a Qtip, clean the clogged print head with it.

That's my problem: I don't know what/where that is and I don't want to start messing around with all of that stuff! lol

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Hate to say it, but just discard it and buy another. Not only is it expensive to repair, the printer cartridges cost as much as a new printer.

The HP and Lexmark printers have ink cartridges that have the print head built in so that replacing the cartridge is also replacing the print head. Hp says they have designed a system that can't be clogged when left unused, nope - Al can clog anything. Canon and Epson have separate print heads and ink cartridges. What happens is the little tubes in the ribbon transport system clog up if the printer isn't used regularly.

I suggest that you by an HP or Lexmark - which ever is cheapest. At least that way you can replace the ink cartridge/print head and have a working printer.

ps nail polish remover worked once to clean the printhead of an HP cartridge, but then it printed blotchy until I replaced the cartridge.

Yah I've always had hp printers (until this shitty one, which is made by Epson) but never had a problem and I had bought them second hand off of CL. They both still worked great when I gave them away to friends. This one was bought new and it's been annoying since I bought it.

I know what you mean about the ink being more expensive than a new printer but right now, while I see it as a possibility and it makes sense on the $$$ level, I'm also not too thrilled with the idea of adding more unnecessary waste for the sake of getting ink...

I don't print photos and it wouldn't even make a difference to me if it was only a black and white printer! lol As long as it prints, I'd be happy - I don't need quality prints or anything.

 

[mercyshooter]

Updating the firmware will clear a clogged print head????????????????????????????????????????? Uh... I dunno...

firmware is the last resort! it may get screwed up on black!

miss bijou, you don't need q-tip!

first you need to check ink inside ink tanks. the sponge maybe dried up and become unrefillable! so in this case, buy a new ink tank! if ink tanks are still good, then you need to take off the ink tanks and soak the print filter with 60C hot water! also soak the print head with 60C hot water until all ink inside are out! you may have to repeat the soaking process many times to make sure all the ink inside are out! make sure you don't mess up the circuit board on the print head! after the clogged print heads are all clean, refill ink to full. then put back in. then run a deep print head cleaning cycle. then print a nozzle check page.

 

[WreckBeach]

take it to crystal mall. there are experts there! Sometimes, update the printer firmware will solve the problem for you!

If you do decide to take it to crystal mall, take a Chinese-fluent friend with you and have them take it into the shop. A lot of Asian shops will upsell for services/goods if they see that you're a non-Asian. I'm not joking. I went into a computer store at Crystal Mall some time ago to ask about some software. Prior to this, my Caucasian buddy went in and asked the same thing. He ended up getting told it would cost him $50 more than it would cost me.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

A laser printer is nice, but for someone who says she can go 4 months without using it, it's overkill. Through, Bijou says she'd be happy with Black only, I've seen some B/W Laser printers under $100 lately. lol, sort of calls for a link, doesn't it? Here's a B/W Samsung Laser for $70 http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=24166f59d4ee70d700e0520ee39ceef4en02 and here's a B/W Samsung Laser with a Scanner for $100 http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=fbc3aecddf55fe83293cf5726064bf50en02

Yes, I was considering the first Samsung printer you just linked..

Or this one: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...592&path=8ec347e88fb2e048c0192762eefef361en02


I may try to unclog it but I'm not feeling patient enough at this exact moment so I may wait until I am. lol

Thanks for the advice so far.


btw - This is the crappy printer I have:
http://www.epson.ca/cgi-bin/ceStore/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=C11CA47202

 

[cancowboy2001]

A laser printer is nice, but for someone who says she can go 4 months without using it, it's overkill.

That is exactly why she should go with a laser printer. I used to have a Canon Inkjet printer that I used infrequently and I wasted more time running the cleaning cycle that I did printing.
I finally went to a color laser printer (Samsung CLP-310) and have had absolutely no problems. That was 2 or 3 years ago and I haven't used up the original (half-filled) toner cartridges yet.

@Miss Bijou: If you go with a wired printer - Samsung CLP-325 - you can get a color laser for about $100
http://www.pricebat.ca/search.php?q...=FORID:11&ie=UTF-8&search.x=0&search.y=0#1574

 

[mercyshooter]

If you do decide to take it to crystal mall, take a Chinese-fluent friend with you and have them take it into the shop. A lot of Asian shops will upsell for services/goods if they see that you're a non-Asian. I'm not joking. I went into a computer store at Crystal Mall some time ago to ask about some software. Prior to this, my Caucasian buddy went in and asked the same thing. He ended up getting told it would cost him $50 more than it would cost me.

I'm chinese! :eyebrows:

 

[mercyshooter]

Laser is so expensive!

 

[Umbras]

Here is my solution to the problem:thumb:

 

[treveller]

I have a Canon Imageclass MF4270 that has worked well for a few years. It gives you black laser printing, 2 sides if you want, photocopies, a color scanner and a fax machine. Kind of a big lump on the desk but not heavy.

 

[cancowboy2001]

lol, I just made cancowboy's argument for him

Thanks I can stop responding to this thread now.ound:

 

[the old maxx50]

I usually end up buying a new printer even when i run out of ink.. it just happens that replacing all the ink cartridges cost more then last years model on sale .
And if i do replace the ink cartage ,, some thing all ways goes wrong with the printer. So I just wasted $80 or more unless i can still buy the same printer again .

They make all this stuff to just be thrown out , that is why they change the models every 6 month so you can't get the same printer again..

Usually if i print off bunch of 8 by ten color prints .. and run out of ink I fig it payed for itself .

 

[Banger77]

Hate to say it, but just discard it and buy another. Not only is it expensive to repair, the printer cartridges cost as much as a new printer.

Totally agree with alinburnaby, your Epson is toast but, please recycle it at freegeek or encorp instead of discarding it in the garbage.

I can't believe how inexpensive that Lexmark is. I know a person with an older Lexmark (X7170) and she loves it. You do need to print a page once a week, she uses the printer test page, to keep it from drying out if you don't print pages often.

Before you buy any inkjet printer, look at how much the cartridges are going to cost you to replace; thats why inkjet printers are so cheap cause they get you when you need replacement ink. Inkjet printers are disposable, it's cheaper to replace the printer than to buy new ink cartridges.

Here's cheap $50 samsung B/W laser printer at NCIX http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=62846&vpn=ML-1675%2FXAA&manufacture=Samsung&promoid=1310

 

[jim]

You do need to print a page once a week, she uses the printer test page, to keep it from drying out if you don't print pages often.

Or take out the cartridge and store it in a ziplock bag if you aren't a daily user. This will keep it from drying out.

 

[newatit]

Had a very good experience with HP and warranty on credit card etc. Got a printer over a year ago, it did much what yours is doing, so phoned HP support. They talked me through a few things, warranty or not, then told me since nothing worked that printer was essentially toast. But offerred me a new printer, delivered to my place, no shipping charge, within two days. The price was $50 less than my original price. Then they offerred me an upgrade for a small amount more. Checked in with Staples and decided this was a good deal so took them up on it. Their correspondence to me was enough to convince my credit card company, TD, who gave an extra year warranty if you used the card to buy it, to invoke their warranty clause. I had their cheque for the original cost of the printer within a week. So only without the printer for two days, have the new one, under warranty and decided to extend that with HP directly, so really good deal.

If you have an HP and bought it on your credit card, you might want to try out this procedure even if the manufacturer's one year warranty is over, your credit card warranty if it exists, will do it.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Sorry to hear you are having problems with your printer. As has been stated, you can fix most things with a Q-Tip and some cleaner.

My question is why you have one.???

Killing tree's by using paper. the oil utilized to make the cartridges etc. etc. I am surprised you use one.

Do you not care about the environment?

lol
Smart ass! I like that....

Well, since you asked.. I will actually be printing even less now that I have a neat little tablet I can take with me anywhere. But I still need to print occasionally... When the print is for my own personal use, I actually print in "draft" mode (which uses less ink) and use both sides. I agree with you, that's why I try to print as little as possible and waste as little paper as I can.

It doesn't have to be an "all or nothing" solution because we'll never accomplish anything that way. I think it's all of our personal responsibility to come up with our own compromises and solutions that work for us. I think it's pretty frightening that a lot of people still don't give any thought the impact of their every day consumption and don't even bother with basic stuff like recycling at home.

But even then, recycling isn't a free pass to mass consume guilt-free...it's not, what's ideal is consuming less. I'm having a bit of a problem with the printer dumping thing (for myself personally) and having a hard time justifying it (for myself) and I find it too bad to read what Maxx wrote about buying a new printer instead of changing the ink. I know he isn't the only one to do it, a lot of people do the same thing. It really says a lot of the companies making those printers too. We shouldn't fall for it, the fact that we do gives them no reason to stop promoting this much waste. Anyway...


I was looking into recycling it if it comes to that: London drugs apparently has a program (free if you can prove purchased from them, small fee if purchased elsewhere) and it's close enough for me to walk to, so that would be an option. Otherwise there's another place but without a car, it's not very convenient.

Free geek: don't they only accept items that work?
I had asked the guy at reboot if they took things that don't work (keyboard) and he said no. I would have assumed Free geek would be the same..?